The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-10-01
Special Contributors.
TWO BASKETS OF FIGS.
BY REV. A. A. THAYER.
Dosage, Iowa.)

Dosage Iowa.)
["The Lord showed me, and behold, two bas-
kets of figs were set before the temple of the
Lord. One basket had very good figs
even like the figs that are first ripe. And the
other basket had very naughty figs which
could not be eaten, they were so bad. Then
said the Lord unto me, What seest thou, Jere-
miah And I said, Figs; the good figs, very
good, and the evil very evil that cannot be
eaten. they are so evil Jer. xiv. 1,2, 81
Wecould better comprehend the figure
in the passage if we knew more about
figs. The prophet speaketh in a parable.
Our comprehension will enlarge and
our instruction abound as we become
wise as to the figures which lie at the
foundation of his speech. We may be
quite surprised to learn that the books
describe about one hundred different
kinds of fg-trees. And they all bear
some kind of fruit. Yet they are not
all called figs, since the varieties were
named in the incidents of different 10
calities. According to the classifica-
ton of learned people, the banyan tree
is a fig-tree. The sycamore tree of
Egypt and parts of Asia, is fig-tree.
Even the American sycamore, or but
tonwood, is fig-tree. Even the ia
nous India-rubbeT- tree of East India
and South America, is fig-tree. And
of course there are plenty of other
kinds of fg-trees which l have no need
to name, With very good reason, there
fore, if there be hundred kinds of fig
trees, we may expect wonderful vari-
ETY. of fruit. Not all figs are good
because they are figs.
Moreover, it is peculiar to some fig
trees that their juice is very nourish-
ing. OF the many kinds of so-called
cow-trees in tropical climates, some of
them belong to the fig-tree family. And
the native negroes or Indians obtain a
large supply of food from their thick
and milky sap. But the sap of other
species of ig-trees is so poisonous that
the natives use it to poison their arrows
for killing game or going to war. The
Juice of others is used for colOring, Civ
ing brilliant red or scarlet. Hence
you discover what prodigiOus variety
of qualities, from blessings to banes,
we find in both the sap and the fruit of
the hundred varieties of fg-trees in all
the earth.
Now, therefore, as jeremiah lived in
land of fig-trees and figs, apprehend
that he was acquainted with an abund-
ant variety to form the basis of his par
able. 1.-The LORD showed me, and be-
hold, two baskets of figs were set be-
fore the temple of the Lord.
One basket had very good figs, even
like the figs that are first ripe. And
the other basket had very naughty figs,
which could not be eaten, they were so
bad. Then said the Lord unto me,
What seest thou, jeremiah ? And |
said, Figs; the good figs, very good :;
and the evil, very evil, that cannot be
eaten, they are so evil "
Well, preceding the parable, Jere-
miah has spoken of good doctrines and
evil doctrines of good prophets and
evil prophets. And following the par
able, in its application, he illustrates
Gods dealings with good people and
bad ones-the best of the Jews who
had been carried way into Babylon by
NebuchadneZzar; and the worst of them,
the refuse, who should be carried away
and scattered, in a second captivity and
desOIation of the land. But the figures
of the figs will be more practical to us
in an application to more modern doc
trines, than in an historical application
to persons who lived in the days of
Nebucbadnezzar.
AS we look into the chapter before
the passage, we find that jeremiah said
these hard things against the popular
religious teachers of his day For
both prophet and priest are prOfane q;
yea, in my house have found their
wickedness, saith the Lord" der. xiii, e,
III. 81 have not sent these prophets, yet
they ran have not spoken to them ;
yet they prophesied." Verse 81. 1.-The
prophet that hath dream, let him tell
a dream; and he that hath my word,
let him speak my word faithfully.
Behold am against the prophets, saith
the Lord, that use their own tongues,
and say, He saith" Verses IS and 81.
From all these charges it is plain
enough that these prophets and priests